Who Knew Contact Lense Could Slow Me Down!
I can't believe that I'm posting to days in a row about contact lenses. The effect of this experiment has pretty much monopolized my life for two days leaving me unable to do much with my horses. I never expected getting contact lenses would side line me. Yet that's exactly what happened.
Late last night I finally realized that I was only making my eye more sore trying to remove the lens from my right eye. At that point I put drops into my eye and went to bed planning to get help removing the Len's in the morning.
By morning my eye was pretty red,swollen and crusty in the corners. Since the Lenscrafters wouldn't be open until 10, I decided to feed my herd instead of leaving the task to Lindsay. It was nice to see the horses but at the same time the soreness of my eye made me a bit on the cranky side.
I was also worried about getting dust or hay particles in my eye. Probably not a reasonable fear but there none the less. So I didn't really spend any quality time with my horses. I got them fed and headed back to the house.
Before leaving for the mall I put drops in my eye a couple of different times. Hoping the added moisture would relieve the pain a bit. By this point my eye was hurting enough I didn't notice any relief but I think it might have gotten worse had I skipped this step.
When I arrived at the mall, the people at Lenscrafters were great. They immediately put me into a room to examine my eye. At first they thought the contact was gone and my eye just irritated from me trying to retrieve a lens that was not there.
However, after adding a dye to my eye and getting me to look around enough to roll my eye, the missing contact showed up. It was folded up into a small mass and lodged up under my eyelid near the inside corner. The doctor removed it easily once it was finally located.
I can't even tell you what a relief it was to just get that thing removed from my eye. While my eye was still very sore and red, there was a world of difference in how it felt with that "thorn" no longer poking me.
While I was at the mall I did pick up my new glasses. They are going to be their own trail. There is a huge change in the prism in my lenses as well as a big prescriptions change. They are going to take some getting used to as well. Hopefully I'll have gotten used to them before it's time to try contact lenses again.
The whole experience with the contacts was painful enough to make me consider giving up wearing contacts. I think the doctor must have realized this explaining that this is just one of the things that happens meaning, more or less, it's not a really big deal.
It was, however, a big deal to me. My right eye is the only eye that I can see distance. If I loose the sight in that eye, I will not be able to drive. It will probably affect a lot of other things as well. It was for me quite a scare. It's probably a good thing that the doc doesn't expect me to try contacts again for at least a week. Maybe I'll have the time to "forget" this little adventure.
But for today, that wasn't the case. Despite the drops the doc put in my eye to soothe it, I had a tough day. My eye was and is still sore and I was unable to work horses because of sensitivity to light.
Richard and Jessica came and picked up the yearlings and Hope so at least three of my horses got worked today. I did put leg wraps on the two yearlings before they were loaded in the trailer only to have one of the undo the velcro while the other was being loaded. That left one polo wrap trailing on the ground in the aisle instead of supporting the horse's leg. Talk about making me look bad......yearlings have the knack.
The majority of the other horses got outside to play. I did help Dave and Lindsay with turnouts but that was it for me. Just that little amount of time was enough to aggravate my eye. I spent the rest of the day inside soothing myself with See's Chocolates.
The only part of me that appreciates the two days off has been my b*tt. A little bit of R & R for that part of my anatomy was helpful, I must admit. But I still can't wait to get back in the saddle. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be back working horses.....and writing "real" posts!
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Contacts are tricky..but stick with it. Once you get used to them...you will love them. You eye technically has to build up a "callus" for them to be completely comfortable which takes about two weeks. Most people give up before then. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI can commiserate. I only see out of one eye. I'm a bit paranoid about getting it 'hurt' in any way. I loose that eye and I'll be completely blind.
ReplyDeleteHopefully your eye will get better, try giving it a few good warm water rinses, they sooth the soreness. Just get a big bowl of warm water and put your face in it and open your eye, then gentle turn you head from side to side letting the water get into the eye. Warm water stings alot less than cold and the warmth seems to sooth it.
I hope you get back to working your horses soon.
I suppose it was nice to have two days off, you probably needed the rest. I'd never be able to wear contacts, I can't see myself putting something in my eye, it's even hard for me to do drops. Hope you feel better soon. Have a Valentine's Day and enjoy your chocolates.
ReplyDeleteContacts are a pain! I wore hard contacts for thirty years until finally, last year, I'd had enough. I got glasses. I know my eyes will get worse now but I was tired of blurred contacts all the time. I was always getting "build up" on them so I was forever having to clean them. Also, I'd had a few too many scratched corneas, sheer agony, from grit in my eyes!! I tried soft contacts and couldn't see well at all.
ReplyDeleteI would love to do lasik someday!
Gosh! I'm sure glad they found that darn lens.
ReplyDeletePoor girl.
The contacts do get easier, but sometimes I think glasses are less hassle. I need to get new glasses so that I don't have to wear my contacts all the time. The last pair of glasses I bought in the earlier nineties. They are, uhm, special looking at this point. Good luck on round two!
ReplyDeleteContacts are a pain in the rear. One thing I miss is being able to see things to the side without moving my head to see.
ReplyDeleteThat's awful about the contacts! I have trouble with mine and rarely wear them, but I still have hope that I'll someday find the "right" kind. Hope you're feeling better!
ReplyDeleteInstructions for inserting a soft contact lens
ReplyDelete1. Wash your hands thoroughly using a pure soap that does not contain additives - anti-bacterial pump soap is the best. Be sure to rinse all soap off of your hands before handling contact lens. If necessary, use a fingernail brush to thoroughly clean the fingers and hands.
2. Close or cover the drain when working over a basin. Dr. Glazier recommends putting a paper towel over the drain and the bottom of the sink.
3. Place the lens, with the concave surface facing you, on the tip of your right index finger.
4. Reach your left arm up over your head and use the middle finger of your left hand to pull the upper eyelid and eyelashes up tot he bone in the eyebrow.
5. Place the middle finger of your right hand at the lower eyelid and pull it down.
6. YOU MUST KEEP BOTH EYES OPEN WHILE INSERTING YOUR CONTACT LENSES; closing one eye will make the other eye want to close since they open and close together normally, and this may impede the insertion process.
7. Slowly bring the right index finger, with the lens on it toward the eye. Gently place the lens on the eye. If this is not working for you, you may be off in the finger-to-eye coordination. Most people undershoot and actually try to put the lens on causing it to end up more on the lower eyelid, so if you are following these directions without success, try pushing the lens up a few millimeters when it is close to your eye, then bring it forward. It may feel awkward, but it is probably better centered this way to go on.
8. Make sure your fingers are dry. REMEMBER - a lens sticks to wet surfaces (like the eye) better than dry surfaces, so if your finger is too wet, it will keep sticking to your finger and when you try to put it on the eye, it won't adhere properly.
9. Gently place the lens on the eye. DO NOT FORCE THE LENS ON THE EYE OR PRESS IT ON. This will cause the lens to fold and be rejected.
10. Release the lower eyelid first, look up/down/left and right a few times, then slowly release the upper eyelid.
11. Blink slowly several times. Cover your other eye and look at distant objects to make sure the lens is in place.
12. Repeat the same procedure for the other eye. After inserting your lenses, rinse your contact lens case thoroughly with your rinsing solution and let it air dry.